Dr. Jeffrey J. Anderson is the Graf Goltz Professor and Director of the BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Department of Government. Prior to Georgetown, he was on faculty at Brown and Emory Universities. From 2001-2002, Dr. Anderson served as Director of Studies at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, and has also held positions at the German Society for Foreign Policy and Harvard University’s Center for European Studies. His specialty is European politics, with special emphasis on the European Union and postwar German politics and foreign policy.

Reinhard Bütikofer MEP (The Greens)

Reinhard Bütikofer is Co-Chair of the European Green Party (EGP) and a Member of the European Parliament for the German Greens. He is a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and a substitute member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs as well as the Subcommittee on Security and Defense. He sits on the Delegation for Relations with the United States as well as the Delegation for Relations with China.

From 2002 until 2008 Mr. Bütikofer was the national party chairman of the German Green Party. He was secretary general from 1998 until 2002. Prior to that he was the state chairman of the Green Party in Baden-Württemberg. He served as a member of the Baden-Württemberg state parliament from 1988 until 1996. His career with the Green Party began when he was elected to the city council of Heidelberg in 1984.

Reinhard Bütikofer was born in Mannheim, Germany, in 1953 and grew up in Speyer. In 1969-70 he spent a year in Kenosha, Wisconsin. After high school he studied philosophy, history, classical history, and sometimes Sinology, in Heidelberg. He is married and father to three daughters.

Congressman Charles W. Dent

Charles W. Dent was first sworn in to the United States House of Representatives in January 2005. He represents Pennsylvania’s 15th District, which includes all or parts of Berks, Dauphin, Lebanon, Lehigh, and Northampton counties. Congressman Dent currently serves on two House committees: Appropriations and Ethics. He also serves as Co-Chair of The Congressional Study Group on Germany.

Born May 24, 1960, Charlie is a life-long Lehigh Valley resident. He was raised in Allentown by his parents, Marjorie and the late Walter R. “Pete” Dent, a Bethlehem Steel employee. Charlie and his wife Pamela live in Allentown with their three children, Kathryn, William, and Jack. Mr. Dent is a 1978 graduate of William Allen High School. He earned a degree in Foreign Service and International Politics from the Pennsylvania State University in 1982 and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Lehigh University in 1993. Before entering public service, Mr. Dent worked as a development officer for Lehigh University, an industrial electronics salesman, and an aide to then-Representative Don Ritter. He served eight years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and six years in the State Senate.

Dr. Günter Krings MdB (CDU/CSU)

Dr. Günter Krings was elected to the Bundestag in 2002. From 2002 to 2005, he served as Chairman of the CDU/CSU Youth Group. Between 2009 and 2013, Krings was vice-chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group. Following the 2013 federal elections, he became Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

He is the former Chairman of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development, and served on the Rules and Procedures, Oversight, Culture and Media, Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, and Justice Committees prior to 2013.

Stefan Liebich MdB (The Left)

Stefan Liebich has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009. Previously, he served as a Member of the State Parliament of Berlin (1995-2009), and as Chairman of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) in Berlin, having joined the party in 1990.

Liebech’s legislative priorities include conflict and security policy and foreign affairs, and he serves as ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Congressman Tim Ryan

Congressman Tim Ryan has been the Representative of Ohio’s 13th District since 2002. He is currently the Co-Chair of The Congressional Study Group on Germany. Previously, Rep. Ryan held office as a member of the Ohio State Senate. He is also the Co-Chairman of the Congressional Manufacturing Caucus. Rep. Ryan has a Bachelor’s in Political Science from Bowling Green State University and a degree in law from the University of New Hampshire.

Peer Steinbrück MdB (SPD)

Peer Steinbrück currently serves as Chairman of the German-US Parliamentary Friendship Group. He has been a Member of the German Bundestag since 2009. From 2005 to 2009, Steinbrück was the Federal Minister for Finance.

On the state level in North Rhine-Westphalia, he served as the Minister President, Finance Minister, and Minister for Economic Affairs and Small Business, Technology, and Transportation. Before joining the North Rhine-Westphalia administration, Steinbrück was the Minister for Economics, Technology, and Transportation in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein from 1990 to 1992.

Steinbrück is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and a substitute member of the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union.

Bruce Stokes

Bruce Stokes is director of global economic attitudes in the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, where he assesses public and expert views about economic conditions, values and policies. He is the former international economics correspondent for the National Journal, a former senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund and a former senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Stokes is author of the recent Pew Global Attitudes studies Pervasive Gloom About the World Economy, European Unity on the Rocks, and Deepening Economic Doubts in India.

Stokes is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies.He has appeared on numerous television and radio programs including CNN, BBC, NPR, NBC, CBS and ABC and is a frequent speaker at major conferences around the world.